Thursday, January 25, 2007

Cambridge is a big little town. Once I was told that it is the largest city in the United States without a daily newspaper. To be sure everybody reads the Globe but the Globe doesn't pay much attention to Cambridge. Quincy has a five day a week paper. Cambridge's only daily is the Harvard Crimson, and if you're interested in Cambridge life its a good idea to read the Crimson. Its also a good idea to read Robert Winters' website, which is cleverly to be found at rwinters.com. Winters ran for council once and spends the rest of the time teaching math and writing about local politics. Famously he once said that "it is mathematically impossible for Central Square to become Harvard Square so long as Harvard Square exists." This did not conclude the endless argument about gentrification but it should have retired the hysterical claim that Central Square was becoming Harvard Square.

This column also appeared in The Alewife, North Cambridge's excellent weekly. The column might be read the way you'd read Howie Carr.

Even before the year 2006 began, word leaked out from Cambridge city councillors that a deal was in the works to grant some councillors their own personal aides in exchange for their votes to make Ken Reeves mayor. The plan at that time was for Reeves to appoint certain councillors to chair several Council committees and to use this to justify the supposed need for personal staff.

Robert Winters

Sure enough, when the committee appointments were made, new co-chairs were created where there had been none, and the councillors appointed by the mayor to chair some committees made no sense at all. Soon after, each councillor was given the option of receiving a personal aide courtesy of the newly anointed mayor.

By the end of the year, this city council had accomplished less than any in the history of the city. At year's end, there were precisely zero Council committee meetings scheduled and little for the councillors to do.

In truth, 2006 was a year during which some councillors measured their new offices, others measured their chances at getting elected to new offices, and the rest measured how many more years of incumbency they needed in order to max out their pensions.

It was a year to take care Number One, and no one did so with greater extravagance than his royal highness, the mayor, Mr. Reeves. While all other departments kept their budgets close to the levels of the previous year, Reeves submitted a budget 54% higher than the previous mayor. The main increase was the inclusion of personal "research assistants" for each councillor - all paid out of the Mayor's budget to complete the deal that made Reeves mayor.

It's important to understand several things about these "research assistants." First, they don't do any research. In fact, nobody knows what they do other than free up time for councillors to seek reelection. Second, they are, for the most part, affiliated with the political campaigns of the incumbents - just like almost everyone who works in the mayor's office. For this reason, their salaries are effectively campaign contributions paid out of city tax revenue. Third, since they're provided by the Mayor's Office, it's important that councillors make nice to the Mayor if they want to get their personal coat-holder, letter-answerer, and car-parker.

When the Mayor's Office budget was submitted last spring, only one councillor, Craig Kelley, had the gonads to pull that budget to allow discussion. Unfortunately, when it came time to ask questions, the new councillor declared that the budget was going to pass anyway, so there was no point in asking questions. Wrong, very wrong.

By the time December rolled around, we discovered that our wandering mayor had not only used up his $20,500 annual travel budget in less that half a year, but there was now an appropriation request for an additional $19,750 for travel expenses. The appropriation passed without discussion.

What this all means is that this Cambridge City Council unanimously believes in the principle that "you have to go along to get along."

In most political settings, there are two parties in play. No matter what you call them, it's basically a balance between those who are in control and those who would like to be in control. Those on the outside play a vital role in requiring those in power to justify their actions and expenditures. We really don't have that in City Hall any more. Everyone's an insider. Last term, we could always count on David Maher to point out the lack of garments on the king.

The only time anything is challenged now is when there is some political gain to be had - all in the noble cause of incumbency protection.

I've been closely following local government in Cambridge for two decades now and I've never felt as little affinity with any group of nine councillors as I do right now (with the sole exception of Michael Sullivan who was recently elected as Middlesex County Clerk of Courts). Most of them put their own self-interest well ahead of the taxpayers' interest. Half of them are focused more on their next job than their current job.

Because Cambridge can always permit another large development project to cover any added costs, this Council rarely has to be concerned about any blowback from an unnecessary expense, especially the expense of feathering their own nests.

What we could all use now are some good men and women who are willing to run for local office and to challenge the incumbents. This can be a daunting task. We don't usually get more than a few credible challengers brave enough to give it a try. The campaign finance reporting requirements are a pain (unless you fudge the numbers, like the mayor), fundraising is awkward and time-consuming, and it's likely that you'll catch some abuse from somewhere before it's all said and done.

Any new candidate has to get up to speed on a lot of issues in order to avoid embarrassment, but there are many people who will be happy to lend you a hand. Candidacy is one of the best ways to learn about local government. There's a better than even chance that you won't get elected. Nonetheless, we could really use you. Think about it! The year 2007 could be a great year to clean house at City Hall.

There are now a lot of people in Cambridge who would love to oust some incumbents. They would love nothing more than to have their choice of credible hallengers to support and to give their Number 1 vote next November. The School Committee race could also use some competition. If you have loftier goals, there are also several Massachusetts House and Senate seats that could use new occupants in 2008.

Asking someone to become a candidate for public office is a lot to ask. Consider yourself asked.

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Wow. What a shit week last week. I would blame it on that lull between Christmas and the first releases of the new year. But, If you look at the Billboard Top 200, there is not a bunch of stuff there to drive anyone into the stores. Especially ours.

The coming 60 days have some releases that are dreams for us. All independent. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Bloc Party, The Shins and Arcade Fire are all on deck and there is much excitement, yes even for physical goods.

What concerns me and what I think is a root problem for our industry is radio. As great as the new Shins record is (and it is great), you can't hear it on any mainstream radio anywhere in most parts of the US. Same with the other three titles. This is the new stuff that ought to be promoted. All I get is Nickelback and Hinder mixed in with 15 year old Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots. Not very exciting. Not knocking the two current bands dominating radio because I know they have an audience. I am just saying that radio has become this ultra dull lifeless thing that I rarely turn on.

I can hear you now saying "Don, you caveman, no one listens to the radio. Everyone hears about new music on the internet". Well, that is just not 100% true. A nice chunk of people hear about new music on the internet (obviously). But frankly, many people are just too damn busy to spend non-work time in front of their computers. Some are lucky enough to get to stream KEXP at work but most are blocked.

As I have said before, I keep on top of everything by sticking my dial on "Left of Center" on Sirius. In my opinion, there should be a station like this in every market. For those who have not made the leap into satellite radio. For those who get sun and don't live on the internet. In other words, the majority of people out there. The people who would be purchasing music but just can't get turned on.

My kids don't turn on their radio any more. It sucks too bad they say. What is terrible is that no matter how many ways people have to get turned on to new music these days, what they really need is a filter. Unfortunately, the biggest filter out there, the one in every car on the road, is blocking the best stuff from the air.

Coalition of Independent Music Stores Top 200 for Week Ending 01-14-07

The local paper published an ever-so-timely article on the museum scene in Germany's capital. I was there this past weekend and while I didn't make a point of going to the Bode, I did discover two very, very cool institutions that have made it onto my list of favorite museums of all time.

7. Jüdisches Museum - Berlin 8. Hamburger Bahnhof

It's remarkable how much museums have changed in my (albeit short) lifetime. Or maybe just in the past decade. I guess if you want to see the old-school methodology for exhibit and information display, you might go to the Egyptian Museum in Turin. But the Jüdisches Museum ranks right up there with the Terrorháza (admittedly also in theme) in terms of innovative exhibits. The latter is probably more tactile or interactive, but the former gives you all kinds of personal narrative to make the exhibit ("Home and Exile: Jewish Emigration from Germany since 1933?) really hit home. I also like that they inundate you with so much information, so much evidence of the difficulties, the nightmares and tragedies that these emigrants had to deal with that you emerge from the museum feeling you've had the shit kicked out of you. That's what museums should do to you.

The Hamburger Bahnhof is similar in the visceral sense, but I more marvelled at the physical space and use of this former train station. The Hamburger is one of many modern art museums in Berlin (I also went to the Neue Nationalgalerie, which, while designed by architecture demi-god Mies van der Rohe, has a very institutional (read: gym-like) feel. I'm not into the short screen-wall things they've hung stuff on on the main floor. Modern art needs telescoping, swooping spaces. Or at least that's what I've been cultivated to think anyway. Short walls = short shrift.) They have some really great installations there right now. Definitely a must-see.

This is the Altes Museum, which I didn't actually step inside, but I like what they had to say out front.

Anyway, what I ate in Berlin:

Most of my time was spent in the Mitte and Prenzlauer Berg, which are very, very cool neighborhoods. Mitte/parts of the PB are sort of like the Lower East Side/East Village/Williamsburg. In fact, much of Berlin reminded me of Williamsburg. I'll even go so far as to claim that Berlin IS the Williamsburg of Europe. Other parts of PB are almost like the Upper East Side or St.-Germain-des-Prés.

Just up the street from where I was staying is the famed W Imbiss that was mentioned recently in the NYT piece on Berlin street food. I don't know if Gordon W was actually ever there the two times I ate there, but there were definitely plenty of ex-pats hanging around both behind and in front of the counter. I had

the avocado-chipotle naan pizza. With sprouts and arugula, as you can see. Naan is excellent at this place. Berlin is like NYC in terms of food — you're not necessarily going to find anything spectacular that's 'local' per se, other than bratwurst and currywurst, but there are many places that specialize in that sort of neo-continental student fare of, like, carbohydrate + spreadable item (+ cheese when appropriate; + greens when you're in an area riddled with hipsters or yuppies). Basically variations on burritos, pizza, bagels, etc. Even better when it comes with a mango lassi! W's are excellent.

A few blocks further north, I stumbled upon one of those little boutique/coffeeshops that's so hot these days. Misses Marbles, this one is called, and they have some delicious kirsch-streusel-torte:

and really nice, really expensive tote bags.

Berlin, you're A-OK. I'll be seeing you soon, you can bet on that.

Random notes: I caught Donizetti's "L'elisir d'amore" at the Staatsoper, and it has to be one of my favorite operas yet. Clever, funny and just plain fun. I spent half the time trying to tease some kind of meaning out of the German subtitles and understood maybe 5% of the Italian they were singing in, but I still thoroughly enjoyed every minute. I think I've commented on this before, but in Europe, operagoers skew on the young side.

A list I made after finally getting from Milan to Berlin:Metropolitana di MilanoS/U-BahnBad/infrequent signageWell-designed signs everywhere, where they ought to beDirtyPristineTicket machines from 1970sNew ticket machinesInscrutable instructions for ticket purchaseClear instructions in 8 languagesWhere are the maps?Maps everywhereWhere's the train official?Train official very helpful and right where he should beWhere's the train?Train ETAs electronically updated by the minute

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

The Location:The waterfront. The new Institute of Contemporary Art. Wood. Glass. Water. At last, a destination-worthy new building in Boston. When I read that City Hall recoiled from the brick-free design I almost wept: WTF-weeping. I’d like to copyright that: WTFWping.

Thank goodness for Kairos Shen at the Boston Redevelopment Authority who, according to The Globe helped “calm concerns in City Hall that the project was too adventurous architecturally for the city.”

City Hall, left to their own stingy aesthetics, would allow Cleveland (Cleveland!) to architecturally lap us.

The Event:The members’ reception for the first art museum in open in Boston in over 100 years. Boston’s Cultural Event of the Season (NOT the signing of Daisuke Matsuzaka).

The Scene:Underwhelming (My opinion while in a good mood). Pathetic (My opinion in a bad mood).Let me be clear – this is a critique of the party scene, not the Diller Scofidio + Renfro building or the theater space (can’t WAIT to see a dance performance there), or the opening exhibit, uneven with a few pieces I loved, among them: Cornelia Parker’s “Hanging Fire (Suspected Arson)”, Chiho Aohsima’s hilarious lobby installation “The Divine Gas” , and a mesmerizing piece – don’t know title or artist – of a perception-altering, horizonless red void.

The party was called for 7pm-midnight. My friend Cynthia and I arrived sometime after 9pm, to avoid the expected earlier crush. So we arrived, hungry, just before the halfway mark. All the savory food was gone. Bad planning.

Only dessert remained. Dessert is overstating it. Let’s say, sugary snacks. Here’s what was served:• Bowls of candy: m&ms, gummy Swedish fish, Skittles (I am not making this up)• Chocolate-dipped marshmallows on wooden skewers. (?????!)• Fancy pretzel logs dipped in chocolate and nuts (this was adding insult to injury because I’m allergic to nuts.)• Maybe there were cookies. I can’t remember. I was so hungry I double-fisted the Skittles and m&ms and staggered off with one of my two allocated pink cocktails.

Let’s recap: The Members’ Party. Members: People who on good faith bought memberships to a museum that had not yet opened, and which opened three months late (as of yet – they have not offered to extend our memberships). Swedish Fish??

The Fashion, and Lack Thereof:I spent an hour getting dressed. I am not a fashion whore, but, Cultural Event of the Season. I felt obliged to represent.

Most other female attendees’outfits:Anne Taylor dressesBlack or navy velvetAnd the uniform of thirty-something women: Short black skirts, knee-high black boots, topped with basic sweaters (!). In NYC, women wear this to the office.

A few attendees, especially the gay men, were decked out. Also architects. Cynthia and I, resting our tired feet in the theater’s orange stadium seating, argued over the team loyalties of a handsome young man in a beautiful suit, fantastic two-toned shoes and a scarf (an accessory scarf, not an inclement weather scarf). Cynthia insisted gay, because of the scarf (we’re in BOSTON, after all). I disagreed. We decided to chat him up, purely for research’s sake. He was an architect, which I figured decided the issue (Not Necessarily Gay). Cynthia was not convinced. But I had more evidence: 1. He did not comment our on noticeably fabulous outfits.2. I admired his shoes and he felt obliged to provide an excuse for why he was wearing such fantastic shoes.

Friday, January 12, 2007

On We Ja 24, at our store in Central Square, Mark Mooradian will talk about tea and share old and new flavors.Learn about tea : black tea, red tea, green tea, white tea, oolong tea, frost tea, tissines. Tea is a vast world with a long history. Mark is the Prince Henry the Navigator of this world. Mark sells tea to all of Boston's best restaurants, Legal Sea Foods and places as far away as Chez Panisse.

Mark will be introducing two new teas:Armenian Mint Mate,Pu Erh Ginger Licorice.Its free.

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Starbucks announced that it is eliminating trans fats from its baked goods. It might be better for Starbucks to eliminate baked goods.

Toscanini's gets baked goods from Toscanini's & Sons and Petsi's Bakery. Both are on Beacon Street, the strange street that runs out of Inman Square and almost reaches Porter Square. Neither place has ever used trans-fats. T&Sons makes a fabulous vegan chocolate cupcake and I also like Petsi's scones on the weekend.

Two years ago my sister and I went to the Fancy Foods Show in Manhattan. Mimi was working for Tiny Trapeze, the confectionary company that Whole Foods later purchased. The Fancy Foods show is a great place for Foodies. There are entire aisles for countries like France and Belgium and other aisles for regions like Tuscany. Most of the food is delicious.

There is also a percentage of low-end junk food. This year the most popular new items were barbeque sauces. Again. When you go to Fancy Foods shows the most popular "other" items are either bizarre potato chips or barbeque sauces. If you make a barbeque flavored potato chip named after a geographic resort area like Cape May, Cape Cod, or Cape Anne then you can come to every show.

The Tiny Trapeze booth was next to a sprawling setup for a commercial bakery that supplied most of the Starbucks in the Northeast. Their bakery was in The Bronx. The show opened on Friday. Thursday night everyone set up their booths, but this guy was also taking the time to slice up his samples. I asked him if it wasn't a little early to open and divide all these baked goods. "Oh no," he said, "they'll last a week under any circumstances." He was a cheerful sweet man but I resolved never to eat anything at Starbucks.

Long ago Boston had Coffee Connection and Coffee Connection had a some pretty good food to eat. They had a chocolate fudge brownie that was outstanding. When Starbucks bought out Coffee Connecftion they began to systemize their baked goods. Local bakeries like Bond and Burkhardt would be hired to provide food for all the regional cafes. But things went steadily downhill. I know some people like Starbucks' little cookies but everything else went out the window. After the Fancy Foods show I knew that it was hopeless. You were never going to find a chocolate croissant with a little extra chocolate inside. You would find chocolate croissants that your family could store in their shelter along with sixty gallons of water for each household member. Now Starbucks sells sandwiches and salads and is moving into breakfast.

I think Starbucks does a number of things well. I don't care for the coffee but one could argue about that. The food is a lost cause. I'd try to sell more books and records and videos. They do those things reasonably well.

Monday, January 8, 2007

The Globe and Da Heral' both reported an arrest made by Boston's new police commissioner, and his driver. The both reported without comment that the driver was named Q Riley. Where does this come from? Are there other cops with wonderful new names? In France the government approves the names of all children so you don't have any Moon Unit Leotard's. Or is Riley the first Burmese cop in a city once dominated by the Irish? Curious minds want to know.

"For example, minutes after a 20-year-old Hyde Park man was fatally shot Sunday near South Station, Davis was leaving the scene when he and his driver spotted the Mercedes for which police had just broadcast an alert. His driver, Q Riley, blocked the car and detained the driver until officers arrived. Davis yesterday confirmed the incident, saying he acted as Riley's backup."

I think that Bob Lefsetz wrote his own blurb. Doesn't John Updike write his, too. This disinhibited blog is at its best when the author is making coherent and surprising arguments about music, the music industry, and the future of both. Its interesting when he's just spritzing.

Who is Bob Lefsetz

Bob Lefsetz is the author of "The Lefsetz Letter." Famous for being beholden to no one and speaking the truth, Lefsetz addresses the issues that are at the core of the music business: downloading, copy protection, pricing and the music itself.

His intense brilliance captivates readers from Steven Tyler to Rick Nielsen to Bryan Adams to Quincy Jones to EVERYBODY who's in the music business.

Never boring, always entertaining, Bob's insights are fueled by his stint as an entertainment business attorney, majordomo of Sanctuary Music's American division and consultancies to major labels.

"The Lefsetz Letter" has been publishing for the past 20 years. First as hard copy, most recently as an email newsletter and now, for the first time, in blog form.

Saturday, January 6, 2007

Jen Deaderick has always had her opinions. A few of them can be found at her blog, "Brookline is My Baby" at the above url.

for Gus...

A list of my favorite movie endings (that I can think of at this late hour):

Broadcast News: How many romance movies end with neither guy getting the girl and everyone being kind of okay with it. It's a great illustration of what it's like to look back in a crazy period of time in a life. Excellent! And it doesn't come off as smarmy or self-important. Because James L. Brooks is fabulous. (Mary Tyler Moore Show: another great ending)

The Graduate: An obvious choice, but still great. I guess I like ambiguous endings to romances. The more I see that movie the more I identify with Mrs. Robinson (I'm a year older than she was supposed to be in the movie!). In the end, on the bus, the kids start to realize what she already knows: life just goes on. There's all this excitement sometimes, but then it just keeps going. Until, of course, it doesn't.

40 Year Old Virgin: I'm not going to give it away, but it's great

Okay, Gus, see, this is why I don't do these things. I'm already in the realm of local paper puff piece, or one of those annoying Salon articles. I type this stuff out, and it just seems too obvious.

Classic play ending: Hedda Gabler. Just see the thing. Really. Or read it, at least. It's a stylized ending, but that doesn't make it any less great.

Wouldn't this been more fun to talk about over some cool tea at the Big Table? Why do I have to be another person with an opinion on line? Okay, I'll keep going.

It Happened One Night has a great, satisfying, well-crafted ending. The whole damn thing is so well written and well made that I don't know why anyone thought another movie ever had to be made. But, again, life goes on.

Of course, Some Like It Hot has a great ending, but who doesn't know that?

I love the end of Mary Poppins. Let's go fly a kite! And why not???

The Apartment has a pretty good ending. Or is it a little cutesy? I'm not sure. It's feels like a bit of a bow to propriety, or to the need for a happy ending. But it still has a little of the ambiguity that I like. And, come on, it's Shirley MacLaine and Jack Lemmon. It does have a really great, classic beginning, that movie. But that's another blog entry.

Okay, I've done my bit. I'm going to bed. To hell with the lot of you!

Friday, January 5, 2007

Haven't you thought to yourself that what Harvard Square really needs is another bank or two, maybe even a Citibank. Dreams can come true. The building that once house HMV music will soon have a great big Citibank. Thank God that people from Manhattan will be able to find their favorite bank. Wainwright Bank will also share the ground floor of the building, because as we all know banks like banks as neighbors. EMS will move upstairs. Citibank is allegedly paying $150 per square foot.

The Square keeps changing. Years ago it wasn't much different from Cushing Square in Belmont. Then for a decade it was full of bookstores and cafes and music stores. Paperback Booksmith was open 24 hours a day and the Harvard Coop music department was headquarters for the youth of New England. Wordsworth closed. The Architecture Book Store above Cafe Pamplona is gone, as is the St. Thomas More bookstore, Asia Books, Moore and McIntyre, Starr Bookstore, the Bookshelf on Church St., Mandrake Books on Story Street, and the Harvard Law School Book Annex. The music stores grew into two superstores -Tower and HMV- and then imploded. Maybe The Coop music department will revive. Bailey's closed, Brigham's closed, Uncle Ira's closed, Fred's Ice Cream closed and so did the strange ice cream store on Mt. Auburn store where they would use the microwave to make a frappe. Cellphone stores looked like a good threat for a while but the one on Church St. and Brattle closed. Allegedly Harvard Real Estate rented that space with the intention of renting it to a cool food store like Dean & DeLuca or an uncool food store like Trader Joe's. If we move to a cashless society then all these banks will disappear in a Darwinian ... plop.

Its not free. It costs $8. And its part of The Film Series With the Strangest Name: Swiss Films with Rhythm. Accordion Tribe is playing at the MFA on Th Ja 11 at 815PM. I saw it last year. The musicians are charming obsessives. If you have traveled through Europe and been amused by the persistence of the accordion this is the film for you. Both the music and the cinematography are excellent.

Accordion Tribe by Stefan Schwietert (2004, 87 min.). Slovenian American accordionist Guy Klusevic had a dream: to gather a group of accordion greats—Maria Kalaniemi from Finland, Sweden's mad scientist Lars Holmer, fellow Slovenian Bratco Babic, and the elfin Austrian Otto Lechner— and make music together. Follow this unlikely quintet, the Accordion Tribe, on tour through picturesque European countrysides—practicing, performing, and attempting to return their instrument to worldwide recognition as a powerhouse of emotions. In English and German with English subtitles. This series is made possible with assistance from Pro Helvetia–Swiss Arts Council, Swiss Roots–Cultural Offshoots, and co-presented by the Consulate of Switzerland, Boston.

Thursday, January 4, 2007

Toscanini's is sold at most New England Whole Foods and both Formaggio's. The Lyceum in Salem, Ma. uses our ice creams in their desserts. If you want ice cream after leaving a show at The Middle East you can get pints at Central Convenience. The ultimate convenience is to order pints from Cinderella's pizza. They deliver in Boston, Cambridge, Brookline and Somerville. (617) 576-0280. Soon we'll be back in the MIT Student Center at LaVerde's. Taste of Newton sells our ice cream and so do several City Convenience Stores. If you like shellfish go to B&G Oysters in the South End. They shuck our ice cream.

Tuesday, January 2, 2007

There is an argument made during beer commercials that college basketball is better than professional basketball because the games mean more to the college players. Professional basketball players may be more talented but they know they're going to be paid whatever happens; they play too many games and the travel schedule is unbelievable.

This is similar to my feelings about student concerts at the New England Conservatory, Boston's Division 1 Music Power. The concerts are free and NEC's Jordan Hall is a beautiful surprise that is one block from Symphony Hall. A stairway takes you abruptly up from the sidewalk, into a small lobby, another foyer and then into one of Boston's best secret spaces. Jordan Hall looks like a concert hall in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the audience is casual but very involved with the music.

On Su Ja 21 Karen Gomyo will play at 8PM. Her fall concert was altogether amazing, ending with tango music written by Astor Piazzola. This is free and that is the final charm of Jordan Hall. Maybe you'd hesitate to spend $20 to $50 for an unfamiliar event but to see someone like Karen Gomyo for free is why you live in the city.

Basic Instinct 2 did $5,000,000 in domestic grosses. Despite several weeks of hype that plainly did not convince anyone to leave the comforts of their home. Sharon Stone returns to her career as a product shill in Europe and a favorite of fashion editors in the US.

Outkast's Idlewild was everywhere before it opened. No one went after it opened. The domestic gross was $12,000,000.

Also Madonna didn't work out for Versace and Sex in the City star, and Dee Snyder look-alike Sarah Jane Parker still doesn't work for The Gap.

This year was unusual because there were not, as is common, fifteen to twenty movies that might be plausibly listed on anyone's list of the Ten Best Movies.

Colin Covert of the Minnesota Star-Tribune doesn't like these lists but he did mention the following films.http://www.startribune.com/10137/rich_media/893591.html1. Borat2. United 933. The Departed4. The Descent5. Thank You for Smoking6. Half Nelson7. The Devil Wears Prada8. V for Vendetta9 A Prarie Home Companion

that-makes-sense-with-liberal-cheating/15309/1. Army of Shadows (1969's French Resistance movie by Jean Pierre Melville)2. Old Joy3. The Queen4. Iraq in FragmentsOur Brand is Crisis5. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu6. Family Law7. Venus49 Up8. LassieMonster House9. Fateless10. Borat

of-army-of-shadows/15308/1. Army of Shadows2. Flags of Our FathersLetters From Iwo Jima3. United 934. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu5. L'InturusInland Empire6. Happy FeetApocalypto7. ClimatesMiami Vice8. Children of MenL'Enfant9. A Prairie Home Companion10. Talladega NightsJackass Number 2

Monday, January 1, 2007

The Shallow Section of the Sunday NYTimes continues to offer its own view of life in the big city. On Ja 2 07 the Times featured a small roster of 15 weddings. No black people. No Hispanics. No South Asians. One homosexual couple. Hispanics are the most invisible of New Yorkers. They rarely appear in the Sunday Styles section despite being the city's largest ethnic group. Otherwise this was a pretty boring collection of couplings. As the Leonard Koppett of wedding news the only statistic that emerges from this week's reports is that 7 of the 30 people involved went to law school or were going to law school.

Was this part of the paper ever interesting? There's an unsurprising piece about happy nerds at Google and two stories about those darn baby boomers.Two heirs to a cosmetic fortune are featured in a fashion piece that threatens the Wall of Separation between editorial and advertising. Maybe they're friends of someone who writes for the paper as a regular reader might often suspect when reading this part of the Times. Is there any other reason for the short feature about two astrologers from Detroit? There is a scary picture of Suzanne Bartsch in an article about losing expensive jewelry at an expensive beach. Maybe she did a favor for someone?

The ThursdayStyles section is utterly hopeless, but what the SundayStyles wants to do is not so bad: create a cast of characters and types that suggest what the hip parts of the city are like, sort of Lake Wobegon on the Hudson. British newspapers are very good at this. The Times is not.

Before she became famous and completely fabulous in The Dresden Dolls, Amanda Palmer worked as a street performer in Harvard Square. She was the Eight Foot Tall Bride, towering over everyone in front of Holyoke Center, looking Kabuki-weird-and-white. In a recent conversation about whatever decline is happening in Harvard Square she said, "Mimes are the canaries in the coal mine. When I talk to street performers they want to work around Quincy Market. Harvard Square is not a good place because there aren't that many people."